Racial Profiling

5 Pages 1264 Words

Racial Profiling can be defined as the identification of racial factors, such as skin color, hair texture, facial structure, physical attire, gender, spoken language, accent, or religion. As noted above, there are many ways in which someone can be racially profile. Racial profiling has been used for many years. It started with segregation in the early 1900’s and recently with cases such as Major Aaron Campbell vs Florida. Yet, racial profiling has been overlooked and not investigated thoroughly until recently. Some believe that racial profiling is a good offensive tactic by law enforcement. But, others feel that singling out minorities to be involved in criminal activities is a violation of the law, the Fourth amendment, and their civil rights.
According to Voice magazine, about 50 uniformed and undercover officers, Caucasians and African American, participated in an unscientific survey which contended that “the felon look” or “Tupac-thug-for-life” image and posture account for the majority of the stops and frisk done by officers.(Noel, 2000) During the survey the officers had to assign a high or low percentage to every piece of clothing a person is wearing. Therefore, showing us a glimpse into an officer’s mind. The following is a list that may constitute suspicion for a stop and/or frisk according to the survey:
1. A baseball cap, worn at any angle, accounts for about 10%.
2. A bandana, particularly red or blue, hints a gang involvement and accounts for about 20%.
3. An XXL hooded sweattop, or “hoodie”, accounts for about 20%.
4. Sagging or baggy trousers, accounts for about 30% of stops.
5. Exposed plaid boxer shorts, accounts for about 10% of stops.
6. Expensive high-top sneakers, unlaced, suggesting that the person may have done prison time, accounts for about 10%.
These are just mere suggestions of how a suspicious person may dress and could be involved in criminal activities. Living ...